1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicular drive system which is used in a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicular drive system is known which includes an engine, two electric motors, a transmission, and a clutch that is operatively connected to the engine and can selectively connect and disconnect the transmission to and from the engine. One example of such a vehicular drive system is disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0127262A1. In this type of vehicular drive system, the clutch is provided in place of a fluid power transmitting device such as a torque converter, and the transmission shifts speeds while an input shaft thereof is operatively connected to the engine via the clutch.
With the vehicular drive system disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0127262A1, the omission of a torque converter enables the overall length to be made shorter. Despite this, however, the engine, the two electric motors, the clutch, and the transmission are all arranged on the same axis, which makes the overall length long. Thus, while it is possible to mount this vehicular drive system longitudinally in a FR (front-engine-rear-drive) vehicle, it is difficult to mount transversely in a FF (front-engine-front-drive) vehicle or a RR (rear-engine-rear-drive) vehicle. That is, this type of drive system may be difficult to mount when mounted with its axial direction parallel to the wheel axles. In addition, the drive system may also be difficult to mount longitudinally if the mounting space is limited.